Today's Edition
Kuumar Shyam (Aletihad)
Denmark's Mads Christophersen and Indian teen talent Unnati Hooda emerged as the first champions of the inaugural Abu Dhabi Masters badminton championship on Sunday night.
The launch of the Super 100 event saw more than 50 top-ranked players from around the world descend on the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre Marina, under the patronage of Sheikh Nahyan bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence.
There was a lot of excitement and upsets even though the finals went as per seedings and especially the singles medal matches finished by reputation. Mads Christophersen, ranked sixth in the tournament, won the gold medal in the men's singles category by defeating Dutch player Mark Clauw 21-19, 21-15.
Hailed as the next rising talent from the north Indian state of Haryana, the origins of Saina Nehwal, the 16-year-old Honda defeated compatriot Samia Farooqui 21-16, 22-20 to pick the women's singles medal. Hooda just had the edge in the opening game by a consistent two points and kept it that way. In the second one, Farooqui was leading her opponent at 14-9 but managed to find defeat in the tie-breaker.
Speaking to Aletihad, Farooqui conceded that her "unforced errors and poor judgement calls" at that stage of the second game while in lead was a sign of getting ahead of herself. "I was thinking of only staying in the game by winning this one. I was calm, but then a few points went away. Then I made a crucial judgement call that went wrong [when she thought a return from Hooda was going long]," she said.
Farooqui expressed happiness though at her overall form for this year. "I had an eight-month lay-off for injury [inflammation of the pelvic bone] and then have played in six events including this one. I won a gold, and two silvers including this, so it is not bad," said Farooqui, who will now train at home in Hyderabad for a month before taking up the next assignment.
There was more cheer coming the way of Indians in the women's doubles final. The Dubai-born Tanisha Crasto and her veteran partner Ashwini Ponnappa prevailed upon Julie Ipsen and Mai Surrow of Denmark 21-16, 16-21, 21-8. In the men's doubles category, the Indonesian duo of Jo Si-Fei and Nour Ezz El-Din emerged victorious over the Thai pair of Varanyu Kaosaming and Tongsak Naja with a score of 18-21, 21-17, and 21-12.
The mixed doubles final saw the Danish duo of Mads Vestergaard and Kristine Bush triumph over the Singaporean pair of Hi Yong Terri and Jessica Tan Han 20-22, 21-17, 21-18.
The tournament was organised by 316 Sports Services and supported by Abu Dhabi Sports Council and UAE Badminton Federation with participation of 232 players from 48 countries.
The closing ceremony was attended by Sheikh Suhail bin Butti Al Maktoum, Executive Director of the Sports Development Sector at General Authority for Sports, Dr. May Al Jaber, President of the National Anti-Doping Agency, and Noora Al Jasmi, President of the UAE Badminton Federation.
